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Castanea Partners said Jan. 16 that it has invested in Yasso. Financial terms weren’t announced. Yasso, of Quincy, Massachusetts, is a Greek frozen yogurt brand featuring stick bars, sandwiches, and pints. Piper Jaffray and Nixon Peabody advised Yasso. Ropes and Gray advised Castanea Partners.

PRESS RELEASE

Newton, MA – January 16, 2017 – Castanea Partners confirmed today that it has made an investment in Yasso, a leading frozen dessert brand offering “better-for-you” Greek frozen yogurt novelties and pints.

Headquartered in Quincy, MA, the Company is run by its co-founders and co-CEO’s, kindergarten friends, Amanda Klane and Drew Harrington. Yasso is a Greek frozen yogurt brand featuring stick bars, sandwiches, and newly announced pints that have 80 to 150 calories and 5- 6g of protein per serving. Founded in 2009, the Company distributes products nationwide through conventional grocery stores, as well as the natural, club and mass channels.

“Amanda and Drew have created a differentiated product that has generated broad consumer appeal,” said Juan Marcos Hill, a partner at Castanea. “Yasso’s nutritional profile, simple ingredients and great tasting product fill a market void between high calorie, overly indulgent products and artificial tasting diet brands.”

“Drew and Amanda have built a fun, engaging brand which appeals to today’s health conscious consumers who are unwilling to sacrifice on taste. We look forward to working with Amanda, Drew and the Yasso team to support their continued growth,” said Tom First, operating partner at Castanea.

“We started Yasso because we couldn’t find desserts we liked that delivered great taste and superb ingredients. We never dreamed we could build a brand that would achieve this level of success. Yasso was at a stage where we knew that the company would benefit from additional resources and investment. We set out to find a partner who would allow us to maintain our independence and who shares our vision and values,” said Drew Harrington.

Added Amanda Klane, “Castanea’s valuable insight and operating experience building longlasting consumer brands will support Yasso’s accelerating growth and help our team respond to the many attractive opportunities in the frozen desserts segment.

Piper Jaffray and Nixon Peabody advised Yasso in the transaction. Ropes and Gray advised Castanea Partners.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Castanea

Castanea Partners is a middle-market, consumer-focused private equity firm founded by operating executives and private equity professionals. We partner with promising, small and mid-sized consumer product and services brands, including companies in lifestyle apparel and accessories, beauty and personal care, food and beverage, and outdoor and leisure. We typically invest between $15 to $150 million of equity in businesses where we have investing and operating expertise. Castanea has approximately $1 billion under management and is currently investing from a $600 million fourth fund. More information about Castanea Partners is available at www.castaneapartners.com.